Times Of Swaziland: 3 ARMED MEN ATTACK, ROB   AMERICAN RESEARCHER

3 ARMED MEN ATTACK, ROB   AMERICAN RESEARCHER
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BY SIBUSISO SHANGE on 09/02/2018 07:33:00


MBABANE – Being attacked, tied and almost raped in a foreign country has left
an American researcher not only traumatised but living in fear.
The America-born young woman, who is currently doing a research on HIV/AIDS
related drugs in the kingdom, said she left the door open when she entered her
house from work but little did she know that three men, armed with knives and
batons were following her.
She narrated in court that she tried to scream when she came across the strange
faces, however, her screams were cut short after one of the perpetrators
strangled her and placed a knife on her neck.
She narrated that she was then dragged into her bedroom while the other men
began to ransack her house.
*Susan alleged that one of the men, who was later identified as Sifiso
‘Gadaffi’ Mdluli, forcefully removed her from the bedroom, presumably
because he thought she was hiding some items under her bed and took her to the
living room.
While the suspects continued to ransack her house, Mdluli, who was with Bongani
‘Billabong’ Shabangu and another unidentified suspect, who is still on the
run, are alleged to have also taken her working equipments which included a
Lenovo laptop, Microsoft Pro 4 laptop, projector, Apple iPhone and an e-reader,
among other items.
She alleged that other stolen items included her jewellery, Pajero car keys,
money amounting to E3 000, gate remote control and house keys, all totaling to
E75 000.
The researcher further alleged that the trio also demanded that she give them a
ring she had on her fingers, while threatening to cut  her finger off if she
refused.
“They said I should join them when they proceeded to rob my neighbour and I
refused. As a result, they tied my legs and hands with a sellotape. They also
wrapped my mouth with the sellotape so that I could not shout for help,”
she alleged.
Susan said the trio locked her in the bathroom and proceeded to her
neighbour’s house.
“Before they left, they told me that they would be back in 10 minutes. While
in the bathroom, I got a chance to send a text message to my friend while my
hands were tied to my back,” she said.